The Final Battle
by Yoda
Summary: With Voldemort finally defeated Harry returns to the school where a deadlier enemy awaits...Rating for swearing near the end. Please R/R despite short nature of this work...*COMPLETE*


The Final Battle ****

The Final Battle

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, his friends, enemies and all respective items and characters (beasts or beings) from the novels and novellas of J. K. Rowling are hers by moral right and legal copyright. All new creations are my own fictions by moral right.

'Well Harry Potter, you have finally defeated me…' Voldemort was lying against a tree with blood pouring from a gaping wound in his chest, his breathing was ragged as he spoke to the unconscious boy who was slumped against the back of Hagrid's cabin. Groaning with pain Voldemort felt another splinter thrust into his heart, 'odd that magic did not defeat me', he was referring to the branch that had pushed through his chest after his wand had linked with Harry's again and an explosion had thrown them violently apart. Voldemort felt his life ebbing away as blood leaked from his body, 'wake up boy…I cannot die yet…' As if on cue Harry suddenly spasmed and jerkily sat up, Voldemort noticed that his left arm was bent away from the elbow.

'Finally got you then.' He managed to gasp. 'Son of a Muggle defeats the pureblood heir…I hope it hurts…you deserve it.'

'I would expect the same had I killed you boy.' Voldemort spat the sentence but the pain in his chest made him grimace and curse. 'You must do something for me Harry.'

'Yeah…right.'

'No…you must.' Voldemort's voice was fading but still had a commanding tone. 'Bury me…with my mother…she loved me…as yours did…please.' Harry was surprised to see Voldemort's face drawn in panic.

'Why should I, you took my mother, I didn't take yours, you took my life.'

'NO…I gave you life, who would you have been otherwise? Another plain wizard…there is nothing about you that I did not create…'

'SHUT THE HELL UP – I AM NOT YOUR CREATION, YOU'RE PURE EVIL, YOU COULD NEVER CREATE ANYTHING THAT DIDN'T DESTROY LIVES.'

'…b…bury m…m…' under Harry's verbal attack Voldemort lost his life as the last of his blood flowed away into the ground. On shaking legs Harry rose against the wall, without a glance he stumbled around to the front of the cabin where Fang lay stunned.

__

'Enervate' Harry muttered softly and with a muted whining Fang arose and ran up to Hogwarts, '…wait..' but Fang was gone before Harry could move. Stumbling forward in a swerving path Harry made his way up to Hogwarts where lights blazed in the Entrance Hall, he was weakening with every step but eventually made it to the great oaken doors. From the Great Hall he could hear sounds of dinner, he'd been going to dinner when Voldemort had launched his attack he vaguely recalled.

With great effort he stumbled across the hallway and as he collapsed against the hall doors he saw a trail of blood that had been leaking from his leg, a bloody wound he hadn't even noticed. Leaning against the doors with more force he swung them opened and fell with a thump into the noisy hall. At least it had been noisy, now it echoed with the thump of his impacting body. Waiting Harry expected his name to be shouted by Ron or Hermione or Ginny or anyone. All he heard were the familiar creaks of the castle as his face rested on the cool floor, while his leg grew warm as sticky blood flowed.

Eventually he managed to coax his eyes open and rolled onto his back while gasping again at the pain in his arm. Gasping steadily now he pulled up on a bench and managed to sit, limbs sprawled all over the place, the hall was deserted. The plates, cutlery and cups were still in position, there was even food on some of the places; it was as if the whole school had upped and vanished. Groaning Harry rose and steadied himself before stumbling towards the staff table, he planned to use the room behind the hall to contact someone by the fireplace.

After what seemed like hours he reached the staff table and collapsed on the edge and almost screamed when a hand grasped both his wrists to stop him falling off. Harry lifted his eyes and screamed, it was Voldemort. 'Calm down Harry, you've vanquished me remember, now there is a final reckoning to come.'

'Final…reckonin'…?'

'I have to tell you, look at my eyes.' Fearfully Harry did so and instead of the crazed scarlet eyes of Voldemort Harry saw the sky blue eyes of Tom Riddle.

'Tom…' Harry breathed the words but it put a smile on the face of the man before him.

'Yes, you saved my soul from what I had become, but now you must save those of your friends and teachers. I was not your final battle, Voldemort had an evil core so strong that when he died he released his ultimate curse, the Reveance Curse.' Here Tom paused as Harry suddenly lost consciousness. With strong arms he lifted the boy onto the table, and with white light from his hands set Harry's arms and sealed up the wound on his leg.

'Harry, I know you can hear me, you'll wake soon and I'll be gone but you must reverse the curse alone anyway. All the members of Hogwarts have had their very essences stolen by the curse, you have to recover them. Somewhere in the school is the Soultaker, I have no idea what he looks like but you must destroy him to release your friends. You will have one hour from the time you wake up to save them, God go with you Harry, save them–'

__

Riddle, you're time is up

Tom turned to where the sibilant voice had sounded from the entrance to the hall. Raising his hands he did not see the shadows behind him rise into the shape of a caped figure with powerful arms hanging at its sides. Tom shot of a globe of light into the hall then froze as he heard a slither of metal behind him, he turned to see the figure drawing a silver blade from a pure black scabbard. With one fluid movement the figure stabbed the Riddle through the chest and the wizard slowly began to fade.

__

I can't have your soul but I will take the rest, he cannot stop me, only one person has ever succeeded.

'There's your problem then…Dumbledore's in the boy…and he defeated you…Harry will too…see you in hell.' With this Tom faded away completely.

__

No, your soul is too pure for hell, but I'll gladly take the rest.

With a loud gasp Harry sat bolt upright and glanced around the hall, he missed the shadowy figure moving along the wall behind him and melting into the stone. He gingerly moved his left arm and was relieved to find it was only stiff, as was his leg where Tom had healed it. Standing he remembered everything that he had been told with perfect replication, he shivered as he remembered the Soultaker, he could look like anything, be anywhere. This was gonna be hard, but he had to do it, he thought of everyone who was gone; Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Hagrid…Fang! He was still around, could he help.

'FANG, FA-NG' Harry shouted for the dog, 'COME HERE BOY!' he was rewarded by a high pitched whine and bark from Fang who had been running around since Harry had revived him. Once he had the dog Harry realised he had no idea what the hell to do. 'Erm…seek Dumbledore Fang.' With a bound the boarhound took off at pace and Harry raced after him, for ten minutes they ran, it seemed to Harry they'd gone throughout the whole castle until the dog stopped and sat in front of a familiar gargoyle.

'Cockroach Cluster' the gargoyle didn't move. 'Not again, Fizzing Whizbees, Ton-Tongue Toffee, Acid Drops, Jelly Slugs…Dammit those are the only one he likes.' Amazingly the gargoyle raised an eyebrow at this statement but remained unmoved. 'What does he hate? Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans!' the gargoyle leapt aside and Fang bolted up the moving staircase with Harry in close pursuit. At the door Fang didn't wait for it to open and threw himself at it and all the hinges fell off.

Harry entered to see the office as it always was, but there was one difference that immediately caught his attention, Fawkes was gone. A whine made Harry turn to see Fang sitting expectantly by the Sorting Hat. Knowing better than to dismiss the tattered cloth Harry donned the hat and almost immediately heard the familiar voice. '_Hello Potter, so you've defeated Voldemort, to kill the Soultaker you must beat him at his own method of attack, he won't use magic, if you've killed Voldemort he wouldn't stand a chance, now go, get our school back eh?'_ As Harry removed the hat and placed it on the wall he heard a scraping that wasn't him or Fang.

Rapidly turning he saw a flash of silver swinging in towards his head and ducked by instinct, it was coming out of the wall!

__

Greeting Harry Potter, you're soul is mine. A muscular figure emerged from the shadows of the cracks between the brickwork in his hands were a black scabbard and silver blade. _Run boy, you'll never defeat me, save yourself and leave your friends._ At this he feinted at Harry's side with the sword and then struck the young wizard with a powerful uppercut that sent him over Dumbledore's desk and into one of his cabinets. _Time to die Potter._

He looked up to see the figure leaping with the sword point downward aiming for Harry's chest, but the cry had given him time to react. Swiftly Harry rolled and grabbed for something, anything to hit back with. His fingers closed on a shard of glass from the cabinet windows which he attempted to plunge into the leg of the black figure. Surprisingly it entered the body of the Soultaker who grunted and lowered his sword while Harry scrambled back against a wall. _Is this the best I can expect?_ He pulled the shard out without any sign of pain and flipped it so he held the point, to late Harry realised he was going to throw it, and then his leg wound had reopened.

His scream of pain was cut off as the figure strode over and launched another lashing punch at Harry who was sent into one of the walls with enough force to break a rib. If this wasn't bad enough another cabinet fell onto his head with a crunch. _Your friend's time is nearly up, why not save yours?_

'No.'

__

Then you leave me no choice. The Soultaker raised his silver blade and held the point in line with Harry's chest. _Riddle was right though, Dumbledore is with you, only he was so adamant to save his friends, now I have his soul too._ The figure raised his sword and stabbed the point forward at the exact moment Fang leapt from behind Dumbledore's desk, with a howl he landed on the Soultaker, sending both entity and dog into the opposite wall. Before Harry's eyes Fang faded away with the sword impaled through his heart.

Harry scrabbled again and felt his hand close on something smooth and round, who cares what it was, he was gonna hurt that thing. _Ah, so now you aim to kill me._ Came the deadpan voice as Harry rose with the object in his hand, hazarding a brief glance his heart soared, he had Godric's sword, the one with which he had slain the basilisk and saved Petrified students lives. The glance cost him though as the Soultaker leapt forwards and belted Harry a blow with the pommel on his silver blade.

The blow sent Harry flying into what would have been Dumbledore's door, but was now an empty space that gave Harry a bumpy ride down the spiral staircase. At the bottom he had enough sense to blurt out the password and was within inches of cracking his head open when the gargoyle moved to let him sprawl out into the corridor. 'Move back in' the gargoyle complied not by Harry's command but from basic instructions Dumbledore had given it.

Harry's breath of relief was taken away when a dark shadow sprang from the side of the gargoyle to form the Soultaker who immediately drew his sword. Rising to his feet Harry raised his sword in time to parry the blow of the figure which sent him back a few feet anyway. _Give it up Potter, there's nothing you can do._ A slice at Harry's side made his hands ring as he turned the sword to fend it off, maybe the Soultaker was right, he was too fast, too strong.

__

'Never give up Harry, never give up.' Past words echoes in Harry's head as he blocked another chop by the dark swordsman.

__

Give it up Potter, they're mine, your friends, teachers and oh…your family.

'NO.' With this cry Harry leapt aside and chopped down hard causing the Soultaker to shake from the impact as Harry stuck back. 'I'll never give up, I've defeated everything life has thrown at me and kept the rest, and I'll be damned if I let an evil bastard's death like Voldemort's take it all away.' Harry was now swing the mighty Gryffindor sword in wide arcs that cut in on the retreating Soultaker like the scythes of the Grim Reaper. 'YOU CAN'T TAKE IT AWAY!'

__

Face it, in one minute your life and everyone else's is mine, you've lost. The Soultaker was right, Harry was driving it back but not destroying it. _No one can help you now, and you've always relied on someone, you couldn't even defeat a snake alone, how can you kill me._ It wasn't a question but a taunt, Harry grew more furious and missed the trick, at the top of the stairs the Soultaker had elongated himself, not looking down Harry found only empty space beneath him and toppled with a cry.

The Soultaker gave a laugh of pure evil as the young boy crashed down the stairs, and once again his arm was broken, his leg bleeding but now his forehead and right arm were cut deeply as well. Descending rapidly the Soultaker kicked Harry's sword away and placed his silver blade under the bloody chin of the wizard. _Good fight Harry Potter, time to die._ Slowly he drew back the keen blade and time slowed for Harry.

'_Accio'_ he cried as his wand was ejected by trigger from his sleeve to his right hand, and Godric's sword leapt into his left. With a rotation he whirled the blade to deflect the thrust of the Soultaker, and driving his sword round kicked it in the solid hand which held the blade, until nerveless fingers sent it flying. Continuing his sweep Harry drove his sword upwards and deep into the shadowy figure with all his might. 'Die you evil bastard, just fuckin' die.'

__

NOOOOOOOOOO!

With a crack the shadow disintegrated and Harry fell forward as the sword was released, slowly as he fell Tom's voice returned _'The final battle has been won Harry, let Dumbledore know.'_. He crumple onto the ground and heard Ron yell as his face hit the cool floor and the Great Hall door was opened. He rolled onto his back and saw familiar faces gather over him quickly, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville then Sirius, and finally Dumbledore.

'What happened Harry?' Ron blurted before Dumbledore got a word in.

'Voldemort, dead by Hagrid's cabin…' he paused and met Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. 'Met the Soultaker sir, Tom said to tell you the final battle has been won….' And so surrounded by his friends, bruised and bloody, Harry Potter lay smiling at the face of his confused godfather while Dumbledore gently put him into a sleep.

The Final Battle has been won…


End file.
